Bootle Street police station will be the only police station in Greater Manchester open to the public 24 hours a day under the cost-cutting measures

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Greater Manchester Police has named the 33 front desks it wants to close to save money.

Among them are the public service counters at Grey Mare Lane, Stalybridge, Prestwich and Sale police stations.

The stations will have officers working inside them – but the public will be barred from entering and must instead use telephones mounted on the walls which will connect them to call centres elsewhere.

The remaining 22 front desks will remain open - including those at Wythenshawe, Swinton, Hyde, Bolton and Oldham police stations.

But only one public service counter – at Bootle Street in Manchester city centre – will remain open 24 hours a day.

Peter Fahy, GMP's chief constable, has said his force will improve public access by making better use of neighbourhood teams and call centres instead of the 'little used' and 'grotty' front desks.

The closures will save £1.5m a year as GMP seeks to cut costs by £134m over four years.

The force announced its plans in June and has now settled on the precisely which front desks it wants to close following a period of public consultation.

Managers have entered a formal 90-day consultation period with the staff and unions.

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: “What we want to do is provide the very best access to our services in a way that are fit for the future and consider the current financial situation.

“This means we have to make best use of the resources we have and work in different ways by putting resources where they have the biggest impact.”

Jim Moodie, north west spokesman for the union Unison, said: “The public will lose that public re-assurance - somewhere they can report a crime and have that feel-good factor.”